


The Haunting of Dipper Pines

by Seiya234



Series: Transcendence AU [23]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Transcendence (Gravity Falls), Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:15:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27411046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seiya234/pseuds/Seiya234
Summary: A thousand years is a long, long time.And Alcor the Dreambender is haunted, for once, by the consequences of his actions.
Series: Transcendence AU [23]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/160475
Kudos: 33





	The Haunting of Dipper Pines

“At the end of the day, [it was as easy as biting into an apple. ](https://seiya234.tumblr.com/post/623765301208727552/skia-oura-zilleniose-basically-fuck-mary)

The power lingered in him for only that day.

Henry lingered within him for far, far, far longer than that. 

([a land of deepest shade](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fmainlynorfolk.info%2Fwatersons%2Fsongs%2Fidumea.html&t=MzIxMDVkNDFjMjVmNGRmMmRhNTI2NWQ4OTQxMjdkYjQ5ZjRiOWE4Miw5RVcwTVpxYw%3D%3D&b=t%3AS3ysjbPhz5pOAapDaatLbQ&p=https%3A%2F%2Fseiya234.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F629563368550842368%2Fsevered-soul&m=1&ts=1604629600))

Willow told him once that the mind was like the ocean. 

There was the shore where people ran in and out of the water and onto land again. There were the waters where sunlight infiltrated, the waters where the more recognizable sea creatures lived. Even the twilight zone, where things began to get dark, still would occasionally burp up something recognizable.

Then there was the deep. The black. The vast expanse of the ocean floor where there was still so much unknown. And so much that would never be known. 

“Uh-”

Willow rolled her eyes at him. “So the shore is like, shallow currents. That’s where we dwell most of the time. And then the dark is where things you never think of, or don’t want to think of, or parts of you you don’t acknowledge- that’s where all that lives.”

“Sweetie,” Dipper began. “I… I don’t think that’s how minds work.”

“That’s how mine does.”

“Okay but your experience doesn’t-”

Dipper stopped. Willow’s eyes were cold, far too cold for a sixteen year old.

“Uncle Dipper, it’s a fucking metaphor.”

Willow never swore in front of him. He immediately dropped it. 

The worse of it was, he realized later that she was _right_. Because in _his_ Shack, there were the places he spent the most time- the living room, the kitchen, the porch and front yard. There were the places he only occasionally went- his bedroom, stan’s office. 

And then there were the dark places. 

The basement. The apple tree.

Where there were gold bricks littered everywhere, lives once lived but forgotten with the weight of who he was now, and the motes of everyone he had ever eaten-

-“Boo,” said a far too familiar red headed face in front of him, before disappearing.-

-but he never had to pay attention to those.

—-

([oh you’re going to lose control tonight)](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fgenius.com%2FDead-mans-bones-lose-your-soul-lyrics&t=NTUwMmY2YTVjNGVmYjJiMWE1ZTAyZTczMjg5NTFmOTNhYjZhNjQ2OCw5RVcwTVpxYw%3D%3D&b=t%3AS3ysjbPhz5pOAapDaatLbQ&p=https%3A%2F%2Fseiya234.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F629563368550842368%2Fsevered-soul&m=1&ts=1604629600)

The first time was right after Ian’s surgery, when he was looking for some nightmares in the fridge, and out of the corner of his eye was a beautiful woman , [antlers full of withered fruit and tiny white flowers](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Farchiveofourown.org%2Fworks%2F3621903%2Fchapters%2F9821877&t=YjkzMWE2MzIwOTJjOGUwYjE5MWNkN2YwMDQ5YmQzNGNhNjE4MTA4ZCw5RVcwTVpxYw%3D%3D&b=t%3AS3ysjbPhz5pOAapDaatLbQ&p=https%3A%2F%2Fseiya234.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F629563368550842368%2Fsevered-soul&m=1&ts=1604629600). But for obvious reasons he had quite a lot on his mind, and it was easy to put down as a figment of his imagination-

-”Does your imagination come to life? Cause like, you _live_ in imagination?” Mabel had asked. “Um. No…Yes… kind of?” Dipper responded. “But if something’s in there, it’s real now, one way or another-

-easily forgotten before going back out into the real world to deal with yet another disaster. 

But then the Flock began to complain about pulling up hanks of red hair amidst the grass. Cleanly cut severed hands and feet began appearing on the roof, out back, and on one memorable occasion in the dishwasher. Flannel shirts would appear on the back of the chairs in the kitchen and just as quickly disappear again. 

Thick rimmed glasses laying on the bathroom sink, that faded away just as Dipper would reach for them.

Late at night, aimlessly changing channels on the tv, watching the dreams of the multitude, and the smell of woodsmoke, slightly musty apples and mustier books, and an undercurrent of blood and sweat, the smell so strong that Dipper whipped around expecting to see Henry standing there right behind him, but he wasn’t he never was never would at least for another few centuries it was Dipper all alone…

Dipper settled back into the couch. He was alone, a part of him would always be alone, and while on any other night that would send him into an angst spiral but tonight it was kind of comforting.

Strong, care worn hands fell upon his shoulders, and Dipper knew without looking that one of the fingers would have a simple silver band with a little chunk of cubic zirconia, that the back of the right hand would have a scar from a cat scratch, that little red hairs poked up from the fingers…

the hands gave Dipper’s shoulders a squeeze and then they weren’t there.

They never were there. 

—

He began to see Henry.

Henry, opening the fridge, and vanishing.

Henry, chopping wood in the yard before vanishing.

Henry, digging under the couch for the remote before, wait for it, vanishing yet fucking again.

The first hundred times, Dipper thought he was imagining things.

The second hundred times, Dipper thought he was about to undergo yet another bad spell- perhaps all these apparitions were harbingers of what was to come? 

By the 347th apparition of Henry, Dipper finally was forced to accept that these… these motes. They were real.

They were Henry.

Or rather, they were parts of him. 

—

([for when you’re gone, i’m a severed soul](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fgenius.com%2FThe-huntress-and-the-holder-of-hands-severed-soul-lyrics&t=NWRkZTk5ZmRkNmY5YTVhMjNkY2VjMDRiY2JlNTRiMDkyMzFhZjJiZSw5RVcwTVpxYw%3D%3D&b=t%3AS3ysjbPhz5pOAapDaatLbQ&p=https%3A%2F%2Fseiya234.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F629563368550842368%2Fsevered-soul&m=1&ts=1604629600))

Mabel and Henry’s room, oddly enough, didn’t carry quite the weight that one would imagine that it would. 

Because after that it had been Willow’s room, and then her great-granddaughter, and then [Mike’s](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Farchiveofourown.org%2Fworks%2F2781551%2Fchapters%2F6240341&t=NjE1ZTg3ZjJiYzE3NmNhNTNkZTE3YTBmNWJjMGRiODg0YzE4ODUwNiw5RVcwTVpxYw%3D%3D&b=t%3AS3ysjbPhz5pOAapDaatLbQ&p=https%3A%2F%2Fseiya234.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F629563368550842368%2Fsevered-soul&m=1&ts=1604629600) and then…

Point being, so many people had lived in that room, made that the heart of their Shack, that the Mabel and Henry shine had worn off of it for the most part…

Except for the nights when he needed it to be their room. 

The nights when he needed to crawl under one of the many blankets Mabel had created over the years out of her old sweaters, sleep on top of the jersey sheets that Mabel loved but always pulled up and off the mattress, the pancake pillow that Henry slept on and the Pile of memory foam pillows and stuffed animals that Mabel used…

Nights where he would crawl into their bed and remember falling asleep between them, between them with the triplets mixed in there, between them and three to seven grandkids, and Henry’s weird cat that farted all the time, and then just the three of them again, at the end, grey hair and wrinkles and divots in the mattress. 

Nights where he wouldn’t sleep because he couldn’t sleep but he would just set his mind adrift, and do his best to Not Think for awhile. 

And now, nights where he would be in there, and feel the weight of an arm over his chest. Sometimes that arm was wearing an old Oregon State sweatshirt. Sometimes it was bare, showing freckled skin and red hair. And sometimes, some rare times, it was joined by the gentle sound of snoring in his ears, the tickle of hair against his forehead, a foot bumping into his. 

Dipper didn’t turn to see if he was there.

He never was.

—–

For awhile he didn’t acknowledge the motes; because surely they were only unknowing recordings of fleeting moments of time.

But time passed, on and on and on, and the fragments of Henry kept interrupting his solace, so finally Dipper began to talk to them.

They didn’t answer.

He told them about his day.

They didn’t answer.

He broke down in tears in front of them.

They didn’t answer. 

He screamed. 

They didn’t answer.

He raged.

They didn’t answer.

He gave up.

They didn’t answer.

Then one day when he was looking in the mirror, trying to lick some blood off his face, he saw Henry behind him once again.

“Why don’t I see Mabel like I see you?” Dipper asked him, not expecting an answer.

“Because you didn’t chew her soul into a thousand pieces,” Henry answered primly.

Dipper whirled around.

He was gone.

But now Dipper knew they could talk.

—

(f[rom dust and ashes i have called y](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fgenius.com%2F4309753&t=NWJmZGYxNWNlYjQwM2JiY2M4YTZkNmE4Y2JhYjQ1MTI3YmQ3NGM1Ziw5RVcwTVpxYw%3D%3D&b=t%3AS3ysjbPhz5pOAapDaatLbQ&p=https%3A%2F%2Fseiya234.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F629563368550842368%2Fsevered-soul&m=1&ts=1604629600)ou)

Footsteps upstairs again.

It wasn’t the Flock, Dipper knew that in his bones. He tried to not be a dick about it but… the Shack was his place, his sanctuary. The Flock were welcome to every other part of his mind but here…. here be dragons.

So it wasn’t the Flock. 

The footsteps paused, then turned around and began to walk again. From what it sounded like, they were headed towards the triplets’ old room.

Towards Dipper’s old room. 

He looked up and he could practically see each board of the ceiling ever so lightly wiggle as the steps walked across them. The steps got to the door of the triplets’ room, and then paused.

That pause was familiar; how many times did Henry go up to check on the kids when they were growing up? 

Pause. Then slowly walking back across the floor, headed towards the stairs down.

Dipper tensed on the couch. Would this-

The wood on the stairs began to creak.

Then it faded as it got to the stairs in Dipper’s eyeshot.

Then the footsteps were gone. 

—-

After the first time, Dipper began to see Henry in various reflective surfaces. Never for very long, but it was enough to begin a conversation.

“Is it really you?” Dipper asked Henry in his coffee one morning.

“I mean, yes, but I could just as easily still be a figment of your imagination,” Henry replied a few weeks later from the window pane.

“I don’t remember you being this rude when you were alive,” Dipper said primly into his pot of soup. Said rudeness did also put a point into his theory that all of these Henry-visions were hallucinations on his part.

From the blackness of the switched off tv, Henry primly responded, “I apologize for my crankiness, but it’s been a rough century.” 

Dipper couldn’t argue with that.

Time passed.

“I’ve eaten untold numbers of souls,” Dipper said to the Henry who was lurking in the bathroom mirror. “What makes yours different?”

“Because I am special to you,” a Henry sitting on his porch reading a book replied a month later.

“Because you started to pay attention and now you’re looking for me,” another Henry cooking in the kitchen said a year later.

“Because,” and this was Henry’s breath hot in his ear, “Because you are so very lonely.”

—-

([so pale so cold so fair](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fgenius.com%2FSnakefarm-st-james-lyrics&t=NGU3OWFlMTU5OWQzM2FlNzIwNjczM2NkNTNmZTlhNTcyYjNhMjFmOSw5RVcwTVpxYw%3D%3D&b=t%3AS3ysjbPhz5pOAapDaatLbQ&p=https%3A%2F%2Fseiya234.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F629563368550842368%2Fsevered-soul&m=1&ts=1604629600))

There were the motes of Henry that were actually awake and aware, that spoke to him, even for the briefest moment. 

But more often, the fragments of Henry’s soul showed up as little repeating events, flashes of the life that Henry lived in the Shack.

So Dipper would go to get something from the vending machine basement door, and look and see Henry assisting an invisible patron, a book in his hand.

Henry, vacuuming a rug and talking in such a way that Dipper _knew_ it was Stan on the other end. 

Henry, running through the living room, chasing three little stars that were long gone by now.

Henry, swinging on the porch swing, holding Mabel’s hand, but he wasn’t holding Mabel’s hand, he was holding fucking air, just like he was nothing but _fucking_ air-

(he took the porch swing down for seventy two years after that, putting it back again when he had finally forgotten why he had taken it down in the first place.)

—-

He was trying to figure out which ascot color was better when Henry appeared from behind in the bathroom mirror. 

Dipper didn’t bother to look back, knowing from bitter experience that like Eurydice Henry would only disappear.

“I.. I feel…you got two minutes Dip,” the Henry behind him said. 

Dipper froze. Two minutes. That was nothing. That was forever.

“Uh. How do you feel?”

“Hm. Kind of like the very essence of who I am was broken into literally millions of tiny shards of being, and that I only have the briefest flashes of consciousness before fading away again-”

“Uh.”

“It’s surprisingly hard work coalescing back into a regular soul, did you know that?”

“I mean yes? but-”

The Henry in the mirror was now right behind him, looming over him. His flannel was gone and now he was only wearing a worn black t-shirt, the kind that came in packs in Wal-mart. 

“I’m scattered. I’m missing. I’m missed. And then before that-”

Paloma glared at him in the mirror.

“I was tortured to death and then they took my soul, they broke and twisted me and grew a tree from me and they _broke me_ so how the _fuck_ do you think I’m doing?”

They stared at each other for a second. Then it was just Henry again, and he sighed.

“I’m sorry Dipper. That wasn’t fair. It’s been a long-”

He was gone.

Dipper didn’t see another Henry for five years.

—

([where did you sleep last night](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fgenius.com%2FNirvana-where-did-you-sleep-last-night-lyrics&t=NmNhODNhMzAxZTFhZWMxYWIzMDM2YWI5YmU3YTY3ZWRhY2RiYjQ1Myw5RVcwTVpxYw%3D%3D&b=t%3AS3ysjbPhz5pOAapDaatLbQ&p=https%3A%2F%2Fseiya234.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F629563368550842368%2Fsevered-soul&m=1&ts=1604629600)?)

He began to remember things that he had long forgotten.

Obviously, he prioritized henry and mabel and stan and kids memories above all else but well, he was old. He had countless friends and family now, lived untold numbers of lives, hadn’t had a second to rest, reset, renew-

So while he remembered quite a lot of that most precious time, he began to remember-

-[watching the kids’ play](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Farchiveofourown.org%2Fworks%2F2421911%2Fchapters%2F14399335%23workskin&t=NDA2YzdlZDUxNzExNGRiNTE1MDI0YjAxOTY5ZmU0NTczODUyYzkxMiw5RVcwTVpxYw%3D%3D&b=t%3AS3ysjbPhz5pOAapDaatLbQ&p=https%3A%2F%2Fseiya234.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F629563368550842368%2Fsevered-soul&m=1&ts=1604629600) at school and Henry having to sit in the last row because he was so tall….

-h[iding behind the couch ](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Farchiveofourown.org%2Fworks%2F7975564&t=ZTU4YjBkODkwMmUwZTcwZmVkMTIwZDcyNDhhMWY0MGYyMzdhNDE0YSw5RVcwTVpxYw%3D%3D&b=t%3AS3ysjbPhz5pOAapDaatLbQ&p=https%3A%2F%2Fseiya234.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F629563368550842368%2Fsevered-soul&m=1&ts=1604629600)while some terrible movie Acacia picked was on and Henry, reading and smiling self indulgently…

-[dinner at Greasy’s ](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Farchiveofourown.org%2Fworks%2F10357401%2Fchapters%2F22884519&t=ZWU4MTNmZmFlN2ZmYmJlZTU0OGY5MjM2M2I2ZGUyM2YwMzc5NmZlYSw5RVcwTVpxYw%3D%3D&b=t%3AS3ysjbPhz5pOAapDaatLbQ&p=https%3A%2F%2Fseiya234.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F629563368550842368%2Fsevered-soul&m=1&ts=1604629600)with Henry and that one documentarian, what was his name again? Oh yeah, James! 

-kneeling on the floor, praying loudly because apparently those were the only prayers that counted-

(wait)

-dad’s hand shoving the kitten into the sack, shouting incoherently at him while he cried, knowing what was going to happen next

( _wait_ )

-[his girlfriend’s brother, ](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Farchiveofourown.org%2Fworks%2F2416994%2Fchapters%2F7420706&t=OWUxNWFhNzg4ZjQxM2U1Yzg0ZmY4Y2JlYWVkNDQ0OWQzMmRkMDEzNiw5RVcwTVpxYw%3D%3D&b=t%3AS3ysjbPhz5pOAapDaatLbQ&p=https%3A%2F%2Fseiya234.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F629563368550842368%2Fsevered-soul&m=1&ts=1604629600)reaching into his chest and grabbing his soul, taking it to his mouth-

(w͓̜̙͈ a̬̯̘͙̯͎ ì̬̤ ṭ͟)

He began to remember things that he had long forgotten…and he began to see things that he had never knew in the first place.

—–

He had a million things he wanted to tell Henry when he finally appeared to Dipper again but the first thing he managed was “I think you’re bleeding into me.”

“Huh,” said the empty flannel shirt that was laid over the back of the porch swing. “I guess we should have expected that.”

Dipper tensed for the shirt to disappear, but no it was still there, so he went on. “I guess it’s kind of fitting. You know. Because of-” Dipper waved the head over his head, and was relieved that the empty shirt chuckled.

“Oh yeah, [that](https://uovoc.tumblr.com/post/146913539844/transcendence-au-transcendence-au-imagining). Remember [when I wasn’t able to read what I wrote](https://uovoc.tumblr.com/post/147106117779/this-headcanon-that-henry-picks-up-skills-from-the) for a month?”

“Yup.” 

The silence stretched. Dipper realized he was waiting for an apology.

“I’m not going to apologize,” the shirt said. “I thought about it- and I could have said all that better. But I’m done apologizing.”

There was a pause. There was a roar in Alcor’s chest- Henry had been rude! Henry had hurt his feelings, _his_ feelings!- but Dipper ignored it, because if he gave in to it.

Something precious would be irrevocably broken. Maybe future Henrys wouldn’t know it, but Dipper would, always and forever. 

So instead he smiled and only said, “Water under the bridge.”

“Good.” Then the shirt disappeared.

But Dipper felt like he would see it again sooner rather than later. 

—-

([all the trees of the field will clap their hands](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fgenius.com%2F9217457&t=YjZiYjA3NTdkNTlmNzc4YmIwNTFhY2M4NDczYzY5NWQzMDc4ZmNlNSw5RVcwTVpxYw%3D%3D&b=t%3AS3ysjbPhz5pOAapDaatLbQ&p=https%3A%2F%2Fseiya234.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F629563368550842368%2Fsevered-soul&m=1&ts=1604629600))

The Shack began to come alive again…no. Wait.

Not quite. Not quite alive. More the pale imitation of the already pale imitation that was in Dipper’s mind. 

But

There were the sounds of a house lived in. A toilet flushing, the washing machine on a rough spin cycle, clatter of fork and knife on plate… 

The temperature would drop at night and the windows would rattle as if they were being opened- Henry always liked to keep it cold at night when he slept- and rise in the day- because Stan would go around closing all the windows and refusing to turn on the AC to save money… 

It began to feel like Dipper was constantly walking into rooms that people had just left. A turn into the kitchen, and there would be dirty plates and cups on the table, with scraps of unfinished food. The bathroom would be fogged up, with a wet towel hanging to dry and condensation on the mirror. Muddy shoes, the mud still wet on the soles, left on the porch in front of the door. 

The TV turned to the informercials you got after the cartoons died at three am when he walked in, a bowl of popcorn kernels next to the couch, and he had been so close, so close, so fucking close-

But at the end of the day it was just Dipper, out of sync with a reality that had long left him behind.

—-

finally, finally they began to just talk. to be.

Conversations began and ended mid-sentence, and it didn’t matter if a year or five or fifty or a hundred had passed, but they began them effortlessly once more.

Here and now, Dipper had Henry all to himself, and they talked and talked, unraveling each memory they had made together, good and bad. Unraveling each one, savoring it, getting the other’s point of view.

Here and now, Dipper had Henry all to himself, unbothered by the passing of time outside of their minds. They talked about the kids. The kids and the grandkids and the great-grandkids, and all the great-great-grandkids that Henry never had a chance to know. 

Here and now, Dipper had Henry all to himself, in a way that he never could have any of his family, because Henry didn’t leave him to get reincarnated, couldn’t leave him for another life, and now all they had was time. Time for Henry to read all the books of the world through the resources of Dipper’s memory, time for infinite amounts of stuttering conversations and bread and apple pies that Dipper hadn’t tasted in eons left on the stove for him. 

But there was one subject that neither of them were ready to broach, and Dipper hoped they never did.

—-

([maybe i will always haunt you](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fgenius.com%2F19346980&t=YmU3NDIwZjc0ZTI0ZjQ2YWUxMTU3ZWVjMmIxYmJlNmQ0MTlkMzViZSw5RVcwTVpxYw%3D%3D&b=t%3AS3ysjbPhz5pOAapDaatLbQ&p=https%3A%2F%2Fseiya234.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F629563368550842368%2Fsevered-soul&m=1&ts=1604629600))

“You know this isn’t going to last forever, right?”

Dipper turned around.

There was no one there.

—-

“I think I’m almost done.”

Dipper didn’t say anything because he knew it was true. Henry was able to appear to him for longer and longer periods of time, looking more and more complete. 

“There’s… there’s something I[ feel a pull](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Farchiveofourown.org%2Fworks%2F4712816&t=YTNiN2U3ZDU3Y2MyMGMxNTJjOTQ5MDU5OTgyM2RiMmRhMzRkZGE1NSw5RVcwTVpxYw%3D%3D&b=t%3AS3ysjbPhz5pOAapDaatLbQ&p=https%3A%2F%2Fseiya234.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F629563368550842368%2Fsevered-soul&m=1&ts=1604629600) to, I think that’s my next life.” 

Dipper still didn’t say anything.

“Look, please tell me you aren’t going to spend whatever we time we have left together giving me the silent treatment.”

Finally, Dipper spoke. “I’m not giving you the silent treatment.” 

Henry peeped over the tops of his glasses and gave him The Look and oh yes, his soul really was close to being reunited. 

“You know… you know I have to go right?”

“Yeah.”

“And that it’s not good for me to stay like this indefinitely?”

“Yeah.”

“And that petulance is unbecoming in a man of your age?  
  
“Henry!” 

The redheaded man smirked. “There we go. Now are we actually going to talk about how you feel or what?”

Dipper grimaced. Ugh. Emotional honesty. 

But he did manage to say, “I’m not ready for you to go.” 

Henry sighed. “I know. I’ll admit, I’m not entirely ready to leave either.”

“Then stay.”

“I can’t. I miss them.” He didn’t have to say who it was he missed because Dipper missed the same people.

“I…I could m̫͓̝̳͓̘ḁ̞͍̘͇͓k͙͉̥e̮̰̗̦̺̫̞ you stay.”

Henry smiled. It wasn’t a nice smile, and his shadow began to stretch, the air around his head growing heavy, and the smell of blood filled Dipper’s nose. “You could try.”

The tension rose in Dipper, and then just as easily, faded away. “Yeah I could couldn’t I.”

Part of him still wanted to rage and scream, to get into a long, drawn out fight with Henry, to wail and gnash and exclaim how unfair it was to Henry, to the world.

But the world had changed, and Dipper, somehow, had changed along with it. He was older now. And he had had Henry all to himself for a millennium. 

He had had to eat Henry’s soul out of sheer desperation, to save his brother from further torture, a twisted gift to grant him the power to destroy a den of evil….

But this time, this span, had been a gift in its own right as well.

“Are you mad at me?”

“About what?”

“About… about what I did?”

Henry thought about it for a minute, giving the question the weight it deserved.

“I was a little upset, yes, for about fifty years. Because it did… hurt. Losing myself. Trying to piece myself back together. But deep down, I was never mad at you Dipper. I understood, understand.”

Henry grabbed Dipper’s hand. “And if you remember, I told you to do it as well.”

Another time, there may have been some sobbing, some crying about absolution and lack of deserving, and gnashing of teeth and rending of metaphorical hair.

But Dipper was older. And things changed.

And this time had been a gift, so instead he contented himself to let the conversation slip to lighter topics, to relish the little time he had left with Henry.

—

([and see the flaming skies](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fgenius.com%2FSacred-harp-singers-idumea-lyrics&t=YWE4MGFiYjJiNmIxMzI5OWVlYTEzYTYzNjI4ODFhNjhjYmMzNmY4Yiw5RVcwTVpxYw%3D%3D&b=t%3AS3ysjbPhz5pOAapDaatLbQ&p=https%3A%2F%2Fseiya234.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F629563368550842368%2Fsevered-soul&m=1&ts=1604629600)!)

one day he came home and he was alone.


End file.
